This is why we watch sports

Section 1904 is a community-supported media company. If you like our content, considering either subscribing to support our work for as little as $5/month or dropping a tip in the jar.

As someone who has worked in sports media for a while now, I often get asked who my favorite sports media personalities are and why. It's taken me years to figure out the why of it all, which is that I like sports fans that care about the sports themselves. People that enjoy it for what it is.

A lot of people watch sports with an analytical eye, focusing on roster-building and transactions or the chemistry in the locker room. They like to look at the team as if they are the general manager or the head coach, instead of as a fan.

I'm guilty of that too, at times, but I try to always center myself with why did I start watching sports? Did I fall in love with the trade deadline or the thrill of watching a pitcher navigate through a lineup? Did I choose a career in sports because I really love analyzing the free agent market or because being in a stadium of 40,000+ fans screaming in joy at the same thing pumps my brain full of dopamine and adrenaline?

You get the point. I love sports. I work in sports, and that can sometimes rob you of your love of the thing, but I also really love sports and the narratives and moments tied to it. And the next few weeks, whether they treat the teams that I root for well or not, are going to lay out all of the reasons why.

San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres have, once again, pushed their chips to the center of the metaphorical table. They traded prospect after prospect to build the league's best bullpen and a lineup that goes (at least) nine men deep. Also, their bet on the health/talent of Yu Darvish, Michael King and Dylan Cease seems to be paying off.

The Padres are 11-3 over their last 14 games, and have only lost one series since the MLB All-Star break. And, contrary to popular fear, the players that A.J. Preller and his front office team have acquired seemed to be performing at-or-above expectations since moving to San Diego.

To put it bluntly, things are going well right now for the Padres.

By comparison, the Dodgers have gone 7-7 in their last 14 games. They hold just a 2-game lead over the Padres at the top of the NL West. The Giants are not completely out of it yet, sitting in 3rd place in the division, 9 games back of the Dodgers and 7 games behind the Padres.

Over the next two weeks, the Padres play only against the Dodgers and Giants, starting in San Francisco tonight. Should San Diego be able to keep up their current pace, they'll walk into the final week of August with command of the NL West.

San Diego's remaining schedule is pretty easy after that, and these are the last games against the Dodgers and Giants for the season. It's not as though things will be settled, but it does feel likely that the major moves in the division will happen in August instead of September. These games will feel like playoff games because, in a way, they almost are.

San Diego FC

Mostly through their inaugural season, San Diego FC still has a lot to look forward to.

There are 8 regular season games left for SDFC, and they currently hold a 4-point lead at the top of the Western Conference. They're tied with FC Cincinnati for the second-best record in the league, with both teams trailing just 2 points behind Philadelphia Union.

While it's not the goal, winning the MLS "Supporters' Shield" (given to the team with the best regular season record) would be a giant feather in the cap of San Diego FC and everyone that has had a hand in building the team. It would also guarantee homefield advantage for San Diego FC throughout the MLS playoffs.

As Darren Smith has mentioned a few times on the Section 1904 podcast, SDFC also has in their sights the record for most wins and most points by an MLS expansion team in their first season, another pair of fine goals to have.

That being said, it's not going to be a cakewalk to get there. SDFC will face off against the likes of LAFC, Minnesota, Portland, San Jose, Atlanta and Houston in their attempt to finish as the best expansion MLS team ever, and then they'll try to live up to the hype in the playoffs in late October.

San Diego Wave FC

This was supposed to be a bit of a gap year for San Diego Wave FC, bouncing back from an almost disastrous 2024 season (which ended with the most popular player in franchise history retiring from the sport).

Instead, under a new manager and with a roster in flux, Wave sit in 4th place in the NWSL a little more than halfway through the regular season. Like with SDFC, this is a bit of found money from the outside but probably just what Jonas Eidevall expected when he came over from Arsenal during the offseason.

On the more frustrating side of things, Wave has really struggled to put the ball in the net the last few games. The goal they scored against Angel City over the weekend was their first in almost two months (partially thanks to a break in the schedule).

San Diego's last three matches have ended in draws, but they'll need to start scoring and racking up wins if they still want to be in a strong position come playoff time.